Kids' Games on Shapes & Colors

Guessing Games

• Use easy games to teach young children about shapes and colors. Play a game of "I Spy" with the children. You start the game by saying "I spy something red." The children must look around the room and guess the correct item. To incorporate shapes into the game, say "I spy something green and round." The children must guess the correct item. The child who guesses the correct item gets to select the next item for the class to guess.

Matching Games

• Print pictures of shapes that you find online, or cut different shapes out of coloring books. Laminate the pictures to make them more durable and place the pictures face down on a table. One child must turn over two pictures. If the pictures match, he keeps the pair and draws two more. If they do not match, the turn goes to the next player. The player with the most matches at the end of the game wins. Alternatively, print pictures of colors instead of shapes, or include different colors and shapes together.

Flashcard Games

• Stand at the front of the classroom with shape flashcards. Hold up a card, and the first child to say what shape is on the card wins a small prize. Alternatively, play the game in teams by dividing the children into two teams. Award one point to each team for a correct answer. The first team to earn five points wins the game. Play the game using color flashcards or colored-shape flashcards.

  You can also use the cards as a memory game by taping five or six cards on the board. Have the children look at the cards and close their eyes. Remove one card from the board. When the children open their eyes, the first person to call out the missing card wins a small prize.

Other Games

• Other games include bingo and tossing games. For bingo, make bingo cards with colors or shapes in the bingo squares. Call out colors or shapes and the first child to mark off a row of shapes and say "Bingo" wins a small prize.

  For a tossing game, place colored buckets scattered on the ground. Give children colored beanbags to toss into the corresponding colored buckets. Alternatively, draw shapes on the buckets and beanbags. Have children toss the corresponding beanbags into the buckets.